Highly regarded junior linebacker Carson Dean’s 6-4, 232-pound frame gets plenty of attention when he lines up for the 400 and 800 relays during track and field meets.
Dean of Carrollton (Texas) Hebron anchors his school’s 400-relay team and has recorded a 10.74 second split and a 22.1 split in the 800 relay.
“Every time I walk into a track meet, I have my spikes in my hand, and I’m walking the field, and everyone points to the shot put … and I go ‘No, I run.’ ” Dean said. “Or I get on the track and people are like, ‘Wow you’re slow. You’re just big. We’re doing to dust you,’ and then I go and kill them. I like it.”
He’s expected to visit the Hogs on Saturday for Prospect Day.
“I want to get a feel for the campus because I’ve never been there,” Dean said. “I’ve always hear how nice it is and how everyone loves it.”
Dean, who has a 3.84 grade-point average, has 15 scholarship offers from Texas, TCU, Ole Miss, LSU, Baylor, Missouri, Colorado, Nebraska and others. He would embrace an offer from Arkansas.
“I think they’re building a great program there with Coach [Sam] Pittman and obviously not too far from home, and I’ve heard the vibe of the campus is super good, and I kind of want the home feel,” Dean said. “If I go there and it feels like that and I like the campus and the football program, then obviously it would be a top choice.”
He estimates knowing more than 100 people who attend Arkansas.
“I know a lot of friends who go there and then two, I know linebackers like Drew Sanders,” Dean said. “I can learn from him. I feel like he and I are pretty similar linebackers.”
National recruiting analyst Tom Lemming of CBS Sports Network rates Dean a 3-plus star prospect. Dean said he speaks to linebacker coach Michael Scherer and assistant linebackers coach Jake Trump along with defensive coordinator Barry Odom.
“I like him. he seems pretty cool,” Dean said of Scherer. “Just a good coach down-to-earth dude.”
He recorded 68 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, 8 sacks, 4 pass breakups and 2 forced fumbles as a junior.
“I think the next couple weeks to a month, I’ll post my final schools and then in the spring and summer I’ll focus on those schools and then whenever it feels right then I’m just going to commit,” Dean said.